Every NFL fan knows you can’t predict what the New Orleans Saints season will be like based on their Aug. 5 Hall of Fame game performance (vs. the Cardinals). Along the same line, it’s hard to infer what will happen when the games matter by watching Team USA’s pre-Olympics tune-ups.

We’re left making projections based more on style points than competitive games. What we’ve learned for sure is Team USA can destroy weaker sides like the Dominican Republic. And we learned that when the Americans miss a lot of shots against at team with size someone like Brazil can hang around for a while.

None of which tells us much. The reality is there are only a few teams with real medal chances in London besides the United States and in the next few days they will play two of them.

These are the games that will give us a better idea of what is to come.

Sunday (3:30 ET on NBA TV) it is Argentina — a team that boasts Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Carlos Delfino and a core from that country’s “golden age” of basketball that know how to play the international game. This is a group that has fared well in international competitions for years and is a tough out. (Tuesday Team USA will face off against the second best team in the tournament, Spain.)

This game will be cloaked Dream Team talk — it is being played in Barcelona, where the ’92 team won its gold. It is the 20th anniversary of the Dream Team team and there was some controversy when Kobe Bryant said this Team USA could beat that side and Michael Jordan laughed at it. Sunday Team USA will be wearing Dream Team throwback uniforms.

But the USA doesn’t have to play the Dream Team, that’s a legacy debate, a barstool discussion. One you can’t even really have properly before the Olympics.

Argentina is real and pretty good. They can defend and score. The USA is better (Team USA is a 28 point favorite). But can the USA use its pressure defense to get easy buckets in transition against a more experienced team? Can the USA execute in the half court? How will their defense fare against a side that does execute and moves very well off the ball (plus can shoot)? Can LeBron James play the four against Scola? Is Kevin Durant going to keep lighting it up? Is Deron Williams going to keep up his amazing level of play against stiffer competition?

The USA and Argentina will play in London, they are in the same first-round group. This is just a warm-up. But both sides will be trying to send a message.

You probably answered “the Clippers.” Most fans do. So do most NBA referees — And everyone else. Which is why after a recent loss to Golden State, veteran Marreese Speight (a Warrior last season) pointed to the Clippers complaining about the officiating as part of the problem.

He went on to say that the scouting report is you can get in the Clippers’ heads by knocking them around a little. Which seems pretty obvious when you watch teams play them. Shockingly, Clippers coach Doc Rivers disagrees with that. Via NBCLosAngeles.com.

“The officiating thing, I don’t think, is our issue. I will say that,” said Rivers about the technical fouls. “If that were the problem, then, Golden State would be struggling. They’ve been No. 2 the last two years in techs, too. I think we need to point fingers in another direction than that.”

Doc may not like it, but Speights is right.

The Warriors do complain too much, but they also have a ring so more is forgiven. The problem for the Clippers is that reputation for complaining starts with Rivers — he complains as much or more than any coach in the league. Then it filters down through Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.

Is it fair that more is forgiven with winning? Moot question. Welcome to America. The Clippers complain a lot and have yet to get past the second round with this core. And at times there standing there complaining to the referees does get in the way of them getting back into defense, and they seem to go in a funk.

The Pelicans are disappointing this season — it is Anthony Davis vs. the world down there. Which is the main reason they are 7-16 this season. While things have gotten better since Jrue Holiday‘s return, Davis is averaging a league-best 31.4 points per game, it then drops off to Holiday at 15.4, and then E'Twaun Moore at 11.1.

When a team struggles, usually that is a bad sign for the coach. Not because it’s always their fault, but because GMs choose not to fire themselves for poor roster construction. Which leads to the question: Alvin Gentry, are you concerned about your job? (Warning, NSFW)

New Orleans’ struggles are not on Gentry, certainly not completely. He’d like a roster that can play uptempo, that has depth. What he got instead was a good point guard, an elite 4/5, a rookie in Buddy Hield that maybe pans out down the line, and then… nada. And the roster Gentry has often is banged up.

If anyone is in trouble, it is GM Dell Demps. Remember, Danny Ferry was hired last summer for the vague role of “special advisor.” Gentry is in his second year, and the issue is the roster he was given. But the Pelicans are a patient organization that values continuity, so… who knows. But the clock is ticking on Davis;, it’s years away, but the Pelicans need to build a team around him and are far from that right now.

Jones told the Beacon Journal he will retire after next season, which will be his 15th in the NBA. His ultimate dream is to ride off after three consecutive championships in Cleveland

“I know playing 15 years is a number where I can look back and I can be like, ‘I accomplished something,’ ” Jones said. “Fourteen vs. 15 may not be much, but to be able to say I played 15 years, that’s enough for me to hang ’em up.”

Jones’ contract expires after the season, so the Cavs will have a say in whether he returns. Safe to say if LeBron wants him back, Jones will be back.

But the Heat got into trouble relying on washed-up veterans around LeBron, wasting valuable roster spots on players who could no longer contribute.

Is that Jones? Not yet. Though he’s out of the rotation, he has still made 11-of-12 open 3-pointers this season. There’s a role for him as spot-up shooter when Cleveland needs one.

Still, the Cavaliers ought to be mindful of Jones’ likely decline over the next year and a half. Plus, it’s not a certainty he holds to his timeline. Cavs veterans have a history of changing their mindon retirement.